Ensilage-cutter.



H. G. McCULLOCH.

ENSILAGE CUTTER.

APPLICATION FILED F-EB. 26. 1914.

1,204,579. I I Patented Nov. 14, 1916.

5 SHEETS-SHEET l.

H. G. McCULLOCH.

ENSILAGE CUTTER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 26, 1914-.

Patented Nov.

H. e. McCULLOCH.

ENSILAGE CUTTER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 26, 914.

Patented Nov. 14, 1916.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

jfm 111111 II GJZ' CMJOCX/ H. c. McCULLOCH.

ENSILAGE CUTTER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 26. 1914.

H. G. MCCULLOCH.

ENSILAGE CUTTER.

APPLICATION FILED 8.26.1914.

1 04,579 Patented Nov. 14, 1916.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

. Q drwa'aea I Fig. is a side elevation opposite from Fig.

Hana? e. MoCULLOGH, onrminronr, rumors, assrerron r0 s'rovisa- Mantras roams COMPANY, or summer, rumors, a eoaroaa'rron or rumors.

ENSILAGE-OUTTER.- l

To all whom it may concern: Be "it known that I, HARRY G. MGCUL- nooH, residing at Freeport, in the county of Stephenson and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improve? ments in Ensilage-Cutters, of which the following is a specification. My invention relates to certain improvements applied to an ensilage cutter for the purpose ofincreasing thecapacity. of thesame without increasing the size of, the machine. It has to do principally with the feeding apparatus, the various devices of which that apparatus is composed and the mechanisms for quickly and surely starting, controlling and reversing said apparatus.

To make a machine of the greatest capacity in proportion to its size it is essential that the automatic feeding devices be regular and effective in all positions and. regardless of the quantity of material that is crowded into them. The materials to be out are ordinarily fed to the machine by hand 'and' it is, therefore, impossible to keep any certain quantity within reach of the feeding devices sothat the latter must to a a certain extent operate without regard to the quantity of material that is passing through them. Furthermore the same unevenness of hand feeding makes it necessary that the controlling and feed reversing devices be quick and sure so that choking of the material may be prevented and the consequent loss of time always due thereto. The quick reversing and powerful action of the feed devices causes a great tendency for said devices to get out of order and it is therefore essential that they be so mounted and arranged in the machine thatthe ordinary danger of disarr'angement may be removed as far as possible.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a' side elevation of a complete ensilage cutter except that the feed table has a part of its middle portion broken away to shorten the view; Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section omitting the projecting end of thefeed table;

Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section in the plane 33 of Fig. 4.; Fig. 4 is a plan view of the projecting end of the feed table;

1, omitting a portion of the feed shown in a vertical transverse section through the.

Specification oflletters Patent. pat t m v, 14, 1913 Application filed February 26, 1914. 'Serial No. 821,823. I

feed reversing and controlling mechanism;

Fig.. 9 is a; section in the plane 99 of Fig.- 8 looking 1n the direction of the arrows 9, 9 and Fig. 10 is a section in the plane 10-10 of Fig. 8 looking in the direction of the arrows 10, 10. Y

. In these drawings A represents a suitable frame-work supporting the various parts of the machine and carrying a projecting feed table, at, upon which the operator throws the material to be out and from which it is fed :into the machine. This material is advanced toward the mouth of the machine by means of an endless apron, B, carried at its re which, b, 6 are shown in Fig. 4 and the third, W, is shown in Fig. 2. The fourth sprocket which is arranged opposite to the sprocket b and upon the same shaft is in front of the section plane of Fig. 2 and s pective ends upon sprocket wheels, two of ofi ofthe same, often doing serious damage to the apron and always causing considerable delay. To meet the requirements of this class of'work I havev arranged a combined equalizer and adjusting device at the projecting end of the feed table, so: guided and supported thereon as to automatically equalize the tension of the two chains and at the same time afiord easy and convenient means for instantly adjusting said tension to varying conditions.

Referring a Fig. 4. it should be noticed that the upper portion of the endless apron B is removed disclosing the lower halves of the two endless chains which are lettered respectively b and 12 In the end portion [of the feed table and upon opposite'sides thereof are segment shaped guides or ways, a}, a in which is guided an equalizing frame, 0, provided with opposite segment shaped ends, a, c, fitted to the ways and moving freely therein. Upon the opposite ends of this frame are supported two bearings, a 0 in which are journaled. shafts b, 6 upon which sprockets b, b, are carried. At one side of the feed table and upon a suitable pivot, 0", is secured an adjusting lever, 0 the middle portion of which is connected by links, 0 to the middle of the frame C and the handle portion of which, 0", extends laterally from the opposite side of the machine in convenient position to be grasped by the hand. Upon this side of thefeed. table is secured a perforated plate, 0 and the handle 0". may be secured in any one of a number of adjustments upon said plate by means of a pin, 0", Fig. 3.

When onaccount of the varying conditions as to weather or work. the chains become either too tight or too loose the fault is corrected by adjusting the lever 0 and securing it in position by means of the pin 0. When this is done the frame C equalizes the strain upon the two sprockets so that both are stretched tothe same tension and to exactly the tension required for the best running and greatest efiiciency;

When the fodder isthrown upon the .feed

table it falls upon the endless apron B, the upper portion of which runs toward the mouth of the machine, shown at a see Fig. 2. Here it first encountersbefore it leaves the feed table, a packing roll, D, which will be called a stationary roll because it is mounted upon a shaft, 01, running in bearings which are fixed with relation to the frame of the machine. This stationary roll packs the fodder slightly, pressing it downward and toward a movable packing roll, E, which'presses the fodder down upon the endless apron and cooperates with the latter to advanceit to the feed rolls, F, G. The feed roll G is preferably a smooth roll and the feed roll F which is movable toward and from the smooth roll is provided with longitudinal ribs, F which are also preferably used upon the rolls, E, D. The rolls F, G, co-act to tightly pack the fodder between them and feed it forcibly and regularly over the stationary. knife H to the cutting knives, z, upon the cutter head, I,

suitably mounted in the machine. Beneath the cutter head and preferably at one end of the frame is a fan case, J, in which a fan or blower, K, shown in dotted lines in Fig. 5, rotates to throw the cut feed up through the spout, L, which leads to the silo or other receptacle therefor. I

The shaft of the roll G is lettered-g and rotates in bearings which are preferably fixed with relation to the frame but the shaft of the roll F which is lettered f and the shaft of the roll E which is lettered e, run

in movable bearings so that said rolls may selves to the quantity of fodder which is passing beneath them, As the latter travels forward on the endless apron it is slightly packed by the roll D and the roll E easily crowds it downward between it and the feed table, rising if necessary to ride over it and pass it onward to the feed rolls F, G. It reaches these rolls in a firmly packed condition and it is desirable that there be a slight preliminary opening between these rolls to allow the fodder to enter them freely. Looking at Figs. 5, 6 and 7 it will be seen that the shafts e, f, run in bearings, f guided by slots, a, a, in the frame and connected by hooks, e 7'', with a bar, M, the middleportion of which is connected by a link, N, With a spring, 0, secured to the frame and exertingthe required downward pull upon the two floating rolls. The lower'end of the hook e is also pivoted to a bar, P, which passes beneath the pivot portion of the link N and is pivoted to the frame at 72. It should be understood of course that the devices just described which exert the downward pull upon the two floating rolls are supplied upon the opposite side of the machine so that the pull upon the ends of said rolls is evenly balanced. As the fodder passes beneath these floating rolls they rise tional upward movement of the roll F merely raises the pivot end of'the link N from the bar P. 1

In feeding one of these machines to the limit ofits capacity it frequently happens that too much fodder is crowded into the feed rolls or an unusually tough bundle gets into the machine and either chokes the same or throws such a strain upon the working parts thereof that it is desirable to reverse the feed and immediately. relieve the machine from the excess load. This necessity for reversing the feed inivariably comes when there is the greatest strain upon whatever sort of clutch mechanism is provided for releasing or reversing the feed gear and it is therefore desirable that the clutch mechanism be such that the thrust of the engaging parts thereof shall not act to increase, the resistance of disengagement.

In my preferred reversing gear two shafts are employed, the ends of which are seen at R is the driving shaft and the shaft is the drivenshaft. The shaft R receivesthe' power through suitable gearing from the* main driving gear and transmits it through the reversible gear to the shaft Q which passesit on to the feed-mechanlsm through suitable gearing upon the opposite side of the machme.

Referringnow to Fig. 8, the shaft R is seen to-be ]ourn aled in suitable bearings, a" 1. Between these bearings it carries a pinion, 1' Figs. .8 and 10, and it extends beyond the bearing 1- only far enoughto carry a' second pinion, 1'", Fig. 9. The driven shaft Between the bearings g, 9 the shaft Q carries a loose pinion, g", a collar, 9", secured against rotation-upon the shaft, a loose internal gear, 9 and a collar, q", occupying v the space between the hub of the internal gear and the bearing 9 All of these parts are held against longitudinal movement upon the shaft and the collar 9 only is held against rotation. The pinion 1' meshes with the spur gear 9 and the pinion 1' meshes with the internal gear 9 This causes-the gears g 9 to rotate in opposite directions so that the-direction of rotation of the shaft Q will be determined by whichever one of these two gears happens to be locked in engagement therewith.

Upon the opposite ends of the collar 9 are radially projecting tapered lugs, 9 g, seen in end elevation in Fig. 10, and g g seen in vertical transverse section in Fig. 9. Upon an extension, g; of the hub of the gear 9 are pivoted two radially swinging arms, 9%, 9*, the swinging ends of which may be brought into engagement with the tapered lugs 9 ,9", by means of the hell I shaped end of a sliding collar, S, guided against rotation, upon the collar 9 and moved thereon or held in position with relation thereto by means of a common clutchoperating. yokel 8 without novelty and shown only in Fig. 8. Anti-friction rolls,

- q", q", mounted in the swinging ends of the arms engage the interior of the bell to make the act of engaging or disengaging these parts as easy as possible. Such enagement exists when the machine is work-- ing and the greatest strain therefore 18 I thrown upon the clutch and the greatest resistance offered to the ment thereof.

The hub of-the internal gear 9 is proquick disengage vided with opposite radially swinging arms,

q, g, which may be brought into engagement with the tapered lugs g by means of a bell shaped extension upon the opposite sideof the collar S. This collar. S may be moved into and secured in any of three positions by moving the clutch yoke 8 in the usual way into one or another ofthree positions. The positionshown in Fig. 8 effects the engagement of the spur gear g with the shaft Q, and transmits the power to the feed mechanism inthe direction maintained when the machine is in operation. An, intermediate position of the-collar S is shown in dotted lines and when the collar occlipies this positionthe swinging arms are orced out of engagement with the collar g b the tapered lugs thereon and held out o outof contact therewith by the centrifugal force created by the rotation of the gears upon which these. "swinging arms are carried.- If the collar S is moved into the engagement and reversed than when in ordinary operation.

The various parts above described and the arrangement thereof are capable of great variation without destroying the main advantages thereof and I do not desire to limit my invention to the exact construction above described except as particularly set forth in the following claims in which it is my intention to cover all of the patentable novelty contained in my invent1on in view of the prior art.

I claim as new and Letters Patent- 1. In a machine of the class described the combination with a suitable frame and driving gear of a pair of floating feed rolls, a lever connected near its respective ends with the respective rolls and, midway, with a yielding support and a connection between said feed rolls and the frame actuated by one of said rolls to give a limited movement to the other.

2. In a machine of the class described the combination witha suitable frame and driving gear of a traveling feed apron, a stationary lower feed roll in line with said apron, a cutter beyond said feed roll, a stationary upper feed roll opposed to said apron at a suitable distance therefrom, a

desire to secure by floating upper feed roll opposed to said lower feed roll, a floating upper feed roll opposed .to said apron between the stationary upper feed roll and the lower feed roll and yielding supporting devices connecting above applications for Letters Patent at s said two floating feed rolls, permitting in- Freeport, Illinois, this 13th day of Februdependent vertical movement thereof and ary, A. D. 1914:. 7 giving a slight preliminary movement to the 1 HARRY G. MGCULLOGH. 5 floating roll nearest the cutterwhen actu- Witnesses: 1

ated by the other floating roll. J. F. DITTMAN,

In witness whereof I have signed the Rom; BAs'r. 

